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Joe Flacco is on one of the best runs by a quarterback in post-season history. And San Francisco linebacker Aldon Smith is getting help from one of the most successful defensive players in history to stop that run.

Smith, preparing for his first Super Bowl, is taking pointers from Charles Haley, the only player ever to win five Super Bowl rings — three with the Cowboys and two in San Francisco.

“He gave me tips in our first five seconds of talking,” said Smith, who met Haley before the 49ers ousted Atlanta. “It was legit. He said, ‘You need to turn your foot like this and start rushing like that.’ And I was like, ‘All right.’ ”

Smith said Haley’s tips helped him pressure quarterback Matt Ryan. “I did the tips,” Smith said. “They worked and helped out a little bit. I was in there.”

Smith will need all the help he can find to corral Flacco, who is just three touchdown passes shy of tying the record for the most in one post-season.

Flacco has thrown eight TD passes. Joe Montana and Kurt Warner are tied for the most touchdown passes in one post-season with 11. Only six quarterbacks have ever thrown more TD passes in a single post-season than Flacco.

GENE, GENE, THE REHAB MACHINE

Vikings back Adrian Peterson bounced back from a torn ACL this season and came within nine yards of setting the NFL single-season rushing record.

So, when Robert Griffin III ripped up his knee, there were comparisons and predictions that Griffin could also be back and running by training camp. Even his doctor said so.

But Peterson isn’t so sure.

“That’s not fair,” Peterson said Thursday, in Hawaii, as players prepared for the Pro Bowl. “Everybody’s body heals differently. That’s something nobody is going to understand.”

Peterson’s injury was different in that Griffin, who has started movement exercises, had previous tears in the knee. “This is also a matter of genetics,” Peterson said. “Look at my dad. And my mom’s side, my aunts and uncles, they’re all ripped. At 50 years old, they’ve got six packs and eight packs.

“My body just heals differently. I know it has a lot to do with rehabilitation and work ethic, but I really credit my genetics for my recovery as much as anything else.”

KAP IS KASHING IN

It didn’t take Colin Kaepernick long to figure out what being a pro is all about. The money.

In the past two weeks, Kaepernick’s jersey has been the best-selling NFL jersey on Fanatics.com, one of the largest online sports retailers in the U.S.

So, the 49ers QB has wasted no time cashing in on the popularity of the bicep-kissing routine he uses to celebrate touchdowns. Kaepernick has filed to trademark his “Kaepernicking” routine.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website shows that the registration was filed on Jan. 14, and Kaepernick intends to use it on clothing, specifically T-shirts. He already has a marketing team working on retailing the merchandise.

Maybe Alex Smith will even buy one. You know, since Kaepernick took the shirt off his back. The 49ers’ former No. 1 QB, who lost his job to Kaepernick, told CSNBayArea.com that he has actually enjoyed watching Kaepernick’s success.

“Very much so,” said Smith. “The thing I’ve been impressed with most is ... the lack of young mistakes. Most young guys who come in, yeah, they show flashes and they can play good at times. But they also seem to have those rookie moments, and bone-headed things. He hasn’t done it. Period. He’s played patient and smart.”

So smart that Smith likely has started his last 49ers game.

ANYTHING GOING ON UPSTAIRS, JAY?

Jay Ratliff, the Cowboys nose tackle, was arrested and charged with dr iving while intoxicated this week.

What makes this doubly disturbing is that Ratliff would put himself in this position just six weeks after a teammate, Jerry Brown, lost his life in a drunk driving incident.

Ratliff’s actions show a complete lack of judgement. He told the arresting officer that he had been “chillin’ with a homegirl” in Arlington, Tex., and was en route to his home when his 2011 black Ford pickup truck struck an 18-wheeler in Grapevine, Tex.

Brown was killed on Dec. 8, not far from where Ratliff was arrested, when backup nose tackle Josh Brent — a close friend of Ratliff’s — crashed his car and was indicted on an intoxication manslaughter charge.

Brent could face anything from probation to a sentence of 20 years in prison.

If there was a lesson to be learned, Ratliff wasn’t paying attention, evidently caught up in the sense of entitlement that so often gets professional athletes in trouble. There is too often a sense that normal rules don’t apply to them.

Ratliff, according to police, failed three field sobriety tests, refused to take a breathalyzer test and, after a search warrant was obtained, had to undergo a blood test a few hours after arriving at the police station.

HOAX RUNS SKINS DEEP

Maybe Katie Couric is going to need a bigger couch.

It seems Manti Te’o isn’t the only football player who has been duped recently into believing they were establishing a relationship online with someone claiming to be a woman.

According to NFL.com, four members of the Redskins also attempted to meet a woman online, although the players and the club uncovered the hoax before it reached that point.

“Once we found out the person wasn’t real, we went from there,” Phillip Daniels, the team’s director of player development, told NFL.com. The club posted a sign in the locker room identifying the woman by her Twitter and Instagram screen names and informing all players to stay away from her.

“If you think about it, a lot of them are single guys, and they see somebody who looks good in a picture or something,” Daniels said. “In many cases, it involves someone who is a fan of the team, so they’ll start talking about the team. You have to recognize that something just isn’t right. But you’re talking about a lot of guys who are single. I don’t fault the guys. I fault the people who are doing this crazy stuff, causing these problems.”

While the Redskins avoided any serious repercussions, it is evident that Te’o was, at best, naive and gullible. At worst, complicit in the hoax. The gist of Couric’s interview, released Thursday, seems to indicate that Te’o got fooled.

When he found out, he got embarrassed.

And, then, instead of just coming clean and telling the world the truth, he compounded his error in judgement: He lied.

Niners' Smith leans on help of old pro

Joe Flacco is on one of the best runs by a quarterback in post-season history. And San Francisco linebacker Aldon Smith is getting help from one of the most successful defensive players in history to stop that run.

Smith, preparing for his first Super Bowl, is taking pointers from Charles Haley, the only player ever to win five Super Bowl rings — three with the Cowboys and two in San Francisco.

“He gave me tips in our first five seconds of talking,” said Smith, who met Haley before the 49ers ousted Atlanta. “It was legit. He said, ‘You need to turn your foot like this and start rushing like that.’ And I was like, ‘All right.’ ”

Smith said Haley’s tips helped him pressure quarterback Matt Ryan. “I did the tips,” Smith said. “They worked and helped out a little bit. I was in there.”

Smith will need all the help he can find to corral Flacco, who is just three touchdown passes shy of tying the record